Nov 6, 2025

Trauma Focused Therapy Using Psychedelics: What Does It Take To Support Deep Healing?

Sandy Newes
Category: Podcasts
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Karen Sprinkel

Karen Sprinkel is an individual and family trauma therapist with over 30 years of practice experience. As a licensed therapist in multiple states, she combines modalities, including EMDR, Brainspotting, Somatic Experiencing, and Internal Family Systems (IFS) to support clients healing from complex trauma. Karen is also a continuing education provider and the author of The Thriving Self.

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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

  • [3:29] Karen Sprinkel shares how her spiritual beliefs led her to resist psychedelics and what changed her perspective
  • [8:59] How Karen connects Buddhism, trauma healing, and psychedelics
  • [10:53] The differences between a trauma specialist and a general therapist
  • [18:51] Karen’s framework for cognitive, somatic, and spiritual trauma healing
  • [23:38] Recognizing dissociation and the limits of traditional therapy settings
  • [30:22] The risks of gaslighting clients in psychedelic therapy
  • [36:41] How to assess clients for trauma before psychedelic sessions
  • [42:24] Why client choice and therapist flexibility are crucial for safety during psychedelic therapy
  • [49:20] How providing psychoeducation can restore client control and agency
  • [53:35] Karen’s message about hope, accountability, and healing humanity

In this episode…

As more clinicians and healers turn to ketamine, MDMA, and other medicines to heal trauma, the line between therapeutic experiences and therapy often blurs. How can practitioners ensure that these experiences heal rather than harm?

According to trauma clinician Karen Sprinkel, trauma healing requires both depth and discernment. She cites experiential training, client choice, and flexibility as the pillars of safe psychedelic work. Karen also encourages clinicians to recognize trauma across cognitive, somatic, and spiritual dimensions and to prioritize integration and humility in their practice. Effective healing is intentional, informed, and compassionate. 

In this episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Sandy Newes sits down with individual and family trauma therapist Karen Sprinkel to talk about trauma-informed psychedelic care. Karen explains what defines a trauma specialist, how to safely prepare clients for psychedelic sessions, and the importance of flexibility and client agency in healing trauma.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

  • “Just because your clients have trauma doesn’t make you a trauma therapist. You have clients that have trauma.”
  • “If we really want to be an effective clinician that treats trauma, we need diversity in approaches.”
  • “At bare minimum, we must be trauma-informed, which means experiential training, not just intellectual training.”
  • “Sometimes psychedelics don’t heal what we think they’re going to heal, but they create state change.”
  • “Please do not give up. There’s always healing, always another side, always a way through.”

Action Steps:

  1. Pursue experiential trauma training: Completing hands-on certifications like EMDR, Brainspotting, or Somatic Experiencing equips clinicians to handle trauma safely and effectively. This builds competence beyond theoretical understanding.
  2. Assess clients holistically before psychedelic sessions: Evaluating cognitive, somatic, and spiritual trauma patterns helps identify potential triggers and tailor support. This preparation reduces the risks of retraumatization.
  3. Prioritize client choice in every session: Offering options around setting, music, or eye masks restores control to trauma survivors. Empowerment is a key component of healing.
  4. Collaborate with trauma specialists: Partnering with or referring to trained trauma professionals ensures clients receive appropriate post-session integration care. This collaboration enhances client safety and therapeutic outcomes.
  5. Maintain flexibility in methods and language: Adapting to clients’ needs — whether somatic, cognitive, or spiritual — fosters deeper trust and connection. Flexibility ensures therapy meets people where they are.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by the Living Medicine Institute.

LMI is a training, resource, and membership program educating providers about the legal and safe use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

To learn more or participate, visit https://livingmedicineinstitute.com.

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